Carreño comes back against Djere and will face Fognini or Nishikori

Pablo Carreño had just suffered a hard defeat at the Mutua Madrid Open against Delbonis, in a match that he dominated by a set to zero and 5-1 in the second. That stick was still noticed in his debut at the 1000 Masters in Rome this Sunday against Laslo Djere and that is why it cost him so much to carry out a duel that was put against him from the beginning and in which he had to overcome lumbar discomfort due those that was attended during the first round. In the end, the man from Gijón came back against the 25-year-old Serbian and 50th in the world to beat him 4-6, 6-3 and 6-1 in two hours and 12 minutes.

A victory that will give him confidence to win a second match at the Foro Italico that will not be easy against local Fabio Fognini or Japanese Kei Nishikori. Carreño, the eleventh seed, had never faced Djere and will try to improve his 2018 result, when he was a quarter-finalist in a place where he played the doubles final with Joao Sousa the same year.

Pablo went from less to more in a meeting that cost him to catch the air, more due to his own demerits than due to the merits of his rival. In fact, he was the first to self-criticize his game in those early stages. After he improved, he found the Balkan’s weaknesses in a match with very few errors on both sides (7 by Djere and 6 by Carreño), and without too many winners (16 and 19). The discomfort in the back did not allow him to get the Asturian to full performance, who nevertheless managed to get performance at his service from the second set (81% of points won with first set) and finish with agility a few goals on the net.

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